Ping lazamataz
“Has anyone here ever landed a literary agent?”
Didn’t know they could be flown.
Laz and Matt Bracken. I forget his username.
* It's very hard for a first-time author to sell an incomplete book. Proposals are for authors with past credits. You need to finish your book before seeking an agent.
* Most first-time authors who find a publisher do so without an agent. There are many smaller, specialty publishers who are open to submissions without an agent.
On ten pound test line in the lower Chesapeake, bugger put up a real fight.
Nowadays, they must be either overwhelmed or excessively arrogant. I’ve sent out a few feelers and they don’t even bother to acknowledge that they even received them. The days of the little rejection letter seem to be done.
No, but I once landed a 5 lb. steel head trout........Does that count?
Sorry I have no experience with literary agents.
I wonder if you have considered trying to write short pieces for Christian publications such as magazines. If you can prove yourself there (not necessarily on any memoir topic—just as a writer) that portfolio would favorably impress an agent. It would prove talent. They want someone who can make them money and can be depended upon to come through with professional and salable copy.
Maybe also letters to the editor, followed by an opinion essay for an appropriate slot in the magazine.
I long ago did a lot of writing and getting published and then was an editor for a book publisher. Things are different today but editors and publishers want copy they can sell to an audience.
I wish you the very best.
Ping LS.
The model where you get an agent and the represent you is dead. I’ve authored 14 novels, some of which are on Amazon. The new model is you market them yourself.
The problem is the printer, and computers mean when someone finishes a novel, they print dozens of copies and span the entire list of agents. Nobody reads them anymore. If you read the forwards in books the author will say he his agent was his neighbor, or his friend, a published author, got him an agent, ect.
I was not interested in spending fifty percent of my time marketing. So, I went back to engineering.
I wish you the best.
You’ll also notice that long dead authors have now published more novels after their death than when they were alive. That’s because a publisher will not take a chance on a new name. So, they find people to write under the name of a well-known and selling, but dead author.
The whole business as it once worked, is dead.
Self-publishing is a way to go. No agents but you will have to do all the advertising for your book. Sometimes books will sell and other times they won’t.
I would suggest you look at the book called “Writer’s Market” it tells you who is looking and what they are looking for. You should be able to find one in a library or bookstore.
However you do it just don’t give up. It will be more frustration than joy. But once a publisher says “yes” then it will all be worth it (one hopes). Good luck.
My daughter is an editor. She works in the educational book sector but she did proofread the first edition of a million seller.
She told me that for an author to even be looked at, they need a strong social media following to do their own marketing.
Her friend had a huge Tik-Toc following and decided to write a novel. She apparently gave regular updates to her followers.
Her first edition was self-published print-on-demand.
(Had my daughter known how successful the book would be she would have charged a whole lot more to proofread it)
She sold hundreds of thousands of copies printed on demand. Simon and Schuster now has her under contract. Book two in the trilogy is out and there’s a tv movie in the works.
Not bad for a 21 year old kid.
Your mileage may vary but from what my daughter tells me, social media is the key.
I have several songs through library of congress. It’s easy to do, but I suggest a lawyer.
I bet they are more difficult to land than a helicopter.
From your description of the book you’re trying to get published — an autobiography / spiritual journey by a first-time author with no previous publication history, who is not already famous for something else (e.g., an actor or sports star) — I’m afraid any agent you can get now is likely to be one you don’t want.
Understand, legitimate literary agents are commissioned salespeople. They make their livings by taking a percentage off the top when they sell your book to a publisher, and then continuing to take a percentage off the top whenever a royalty check come in. Therefore, they have an incentive to look for easily pigeonholed books they can sell quickly, to a publisher who expects to move a LOT of copies.
Unfortunately, there are also a lot of people who *claim* to be literary agents, but who really make their livings by taking money from aspiring authors, for things like agency fees and “story doctoring.” Thus the first rule: the money always flows *to* the writer. Any agent who wants money *from* you is a parasite, and to be avoided.
Given what you say you’ve written, I think the people who are advising you to self-publish are right. It’s not that difficult. Find a good proofreader/copy editor you trust, to go over your book with a fine-tooth comb and tell you how to fix the spelling and grammar errors. Spend a little money on getting decent, professional-looking cover art, and a little time learning how to create an epub file, or make friends with someone who can do it for you. Then upload your book to something like KDP or draft2digital, and away you go.
As for getting your book into your local Barnes & Noble: even seasoned professionals have trouble doing that. When you walk into a store and see books prominently displayed in the story or on an endcap, know that the publisher very likely *paid* B&N to have the book placed there.
My experience with agents is 30 years ago, so no longer relevant. I followed the directions in the book and sent out a one page proposal that exactly matched the specs, then I got creative with the layout. Turned it angled and had a picture of a vampire, if I remember correctly. Also cheeky and not in the slightest business-like. Did spam it out, as others described. Got back 17 offers to read and 7 offers to represent after reading.
30 years ago!
When I came to put out books 10 years ago, I didn’t go the agent route. I self-published thru Amazon. 2 of the 3 books I put out were the type that have little market but I personally needed to get them out, so I’m happy. I have 3 more to get off my duff and send off, and I’ll put them out the same way. I have NO social media presence, though I do have 2 websites, and only gave a few talks 10 years ago and a few more along the way. Today I wouldn’t even do that.
I support the comments about Amazon and the value of social media. It’s much more work than letting a publisher do the grunt work, but it’s nice to see the final result and there’s a different level of pleasure of having total control of layout.
You’ve chosen a tough area to write in. And whether you’re on a bookshelf in a physical bookstore or in a virtual one, you know your father would be bursting his buttons over you.
There are people who tell literary agents who to look out for, and they are lawyers. You need people to vouch for you to the agent, who he respects. Lawyers and people he knows can be those people.
The most important things in the arts are: 1) the patron, 2) money. Money is better than people because it can buy the right people and their abilities. Money gets things done. The patron is the insider who also gets things done through their influence. The patron can be a person or a family, and usually they are wealthy.
If you are starting out, it may not be all what you think. For example, Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, ended up secretly buying Beatles records in order to get the band listed as a best-selling group. They were nobodies before and became financially respectable artists after that. That is why money and a patron are important.
Also in the arts, a lot of stock is placed on perception, and personality. People will be looking at you if you look the part of a writer, and could you hack the strain of a book tour and media campaign. And, if you are successful, how many more books are still in you to write? Are you young enough to you carry an audience through a long career? But I’m jumping the gun here.
Anyway, best of luck.
Books sell because people hear about them. It’s like any marketing.
The question becomes, how do people hear about your book? The only — only — advantage to a big name publisher is that they can market your book and create the awareness. However, even the big publishers know that it’s a lot easier to sell something people already know about or want.
I write history. My books were published by specialty publishers who have the ability to place them in libraries. Not a big market, but an important one for me. Outside of that, the most I ever sold books were at events, like conventions, meetings, any place people gather; i.e. marketing.
Get your story “out there,” one way or another. The book sales will follow, not the other way around.
Bookmark
Best of luck!
Professional editing: loved and praised story and declared it worthy of publication.
Self publish: thousands of dollars to a ‘reputable’ publisher; chintzy, probably AI generated cover art with no relevance to the book; ditto for website; a few phone calls with advise which wasn’t relevant to the story; a box of ego boosting prints; zero sales despite promised promotion.
Paid agent: promises with zero results.
Multiple rejection letters: no interest without large social media following of at least 1,000; need to ‘spice up some romance’ and add some LGBQT to get audience (keep in mind that I promote Christian values without overt religion).
I’ve written multiple manuscripts in various genre over the years because it is better to write than watch just about anything in media. I share, and people like them, but no money in it aside from a few monthly $ on Amazon Kindle.
Seems most people want shallow characters (superheroes) and continuous action. Compare blockbuster movies of today with the heyday on the thirties and forties. And only a small minority reads any more.